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Detained man charged with aiding Al Qaeda

August 09, 2003|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

NEW YORK — A Pakistani man held for four months in the government's terrorism investigation was charged Friday with entering the United States to help clear the way for an Al Qaeda associate to sneak in after him.

Uzair Paracha, 23, detained as a material witness since his March arrest in New York, waved and smiled to more than a dozen family members as he entered U.S. District Court in Manhattan for a brief appearance. He was held pending a bail hearing next week.

According to the criminal complaint, Paracha agreed to help the Al Qaeda associate obtain documents that would let him enter the United States and help him gain legal immigration status. The government has not released the associate's identity but says the man has remained overseas.

Anthony Ricco, Paracha's lawyer, said outside court that his client was manipulated into helping the associate and was looking forward to a trial to prove that he had no criminal intent.

He described Paracha as "a very bright, but, I say, a very naive young man" and added that he did not expect to contest that his client knew the associate was in Al Qaeda.

"Having knowledge someone is in Al Qaeda is not a criminal act," Ricco said.